A Wild Card No More
by Special FX
Summary: In one world, Kouetsu Kirijo would authorize the experimentation of beings known as Shadows. This one decision would lead to a boy having the aspect of Death sealed inside of him as well as gaining the powers of the Wild Card. In another world, the Kirijo group never discovered the existence of Shadows, they would instead go down another road. This is the story of that world.
1. Chapter 1

In one world, a certain universe, the founder of the Kirijo group, Kouetsu Kirijo would authorize the experimentation of beings known as, Shadows. At first, it was merely a bid for power, a desire to harness the powers of these Shadows to create a time manipulation device. Throughout the years, the Kirijo group had managed to gather some of the top scientists from around the world along with a significant amount of shadows.

Eventually, there came a point in time in where these experiments had come to an abrupt end. It had simply became known as, the "Shadow Incident", an event in time where an experiment went wrong, would lead to the creation of the Dark Hour, and with it, the labyrinth known as Tartarus.

Of course these events were easily kept under wraps, largely in part thanks to the influence of the Kirijo group. And yet even so, this incident would lead to irreversible changes to the world itself and specifically, for one boy.

One of the results of this incident involved an event that would lead to the boy losing his parents during one of the family's daily commutes across the Tatsumi Port Island Bridge. On that fateful night, the boy would have the aspect of Death, the 13th arcana sealed inside of him. And through a series of events spanning throughout the years, the boy would find himself becoming the Wild Card. And with that power, came the responsibility of seeing things through to the end, resulting in a final showdown with the entity known as Nyx.

But, that is a story for another time.

In another world, another universe, the Kirijo group never discovered the existence known as Shadows. Without that discovery, the desire to harness these Shadows could never exist, leading Kouetsu Kirijo to other directions in his pursuit for power. It was only a small change, and yet it would lead to a giant ripple of change.

And so, because the "Shadow Incident" never occurred, the boy would never lose his parents on that fateful night. The family's daily commute across the Tatsumi Port Island Bridge would go on as usual.

And yet, Fate was a fickle mistress. The boy would have his parents, but only for a little while longer. The very next year, the family would be the victims of a burglary, resulting in once again, the death of this boy's parents.

And so, just the same as before, the boy would find himself being dropped off from orphanage to orphanage, switching from school to school. One could think of it as being quite ironic really, with all these changes, some things still remain the same as ever.

And just as before, 10 years later, the boy would once again find himself switching schools. Only this time, it would not be Gekkoukan High. After all, without the "Shadow Incident" the school could not have existed in the first place, and instead, in its place was the Kirijo group's laboratory, still standing firm.

The boy was a Wild Card no more.

But who says that the only way to save the world was by signing a contract given to you by the aspect of death?

* * *

><p><strong> A Persona 3 x High School of the Dead Crossover<strong>

** A Wild Card No More**

** The First Card-**

** The Ace of Spades**

* * *

><p>"Arisato-san, now that I have your attention, please read the next part of the chapter for the class."<p>

He blinked.

A small round of snickers and giggles could be heard erupting throughout the entire class. It seemed that he had unknowingly fallen asleep during today's lesson.

With a slight grumble of an apology, the boy rose up from his seat, grabbing his textbook and proceeded to read aloud, the next part of the lesson. His voice was quite soft, one almost had to strain to hear him speak.

From a first glance, the boy was almost no different from every other boy. In fact, the only thing that looked somewhat out of place were the headphones that constantly hung around his neck. Since the first day the blue haired boy had transferred in, those headphones remained steadfast in their position around his neck.

And while it was technically against school rules for the students to carry around electronics, none of the teachers really had the heart to scold the boy after looking at his profile. When one got close enough to the boy, that was when the differences truly showed themselves.

If one could describe the boy in a few words, it would probably be stoic, or perhaps apathetic. No doubt the faculty considered this quirk of the boy as a result of trauma from his childhood.

"Thank you Arisato-san, you may be seated. Do try to stay awake next time though."

Another small round of snickers swept its way through the class as the boy sat down.

After a few more minutes and a great deal of effort in trying to stay awake, the bell had rung, signaling that it was lunch time.

As usual more than half the class quickly jumped out of their seats and dashed out of the classroom, no doubt trying to secure a good spot in the lunch line. The boy merely remained in his seat as he watched his peers continue to rush out of the class.

"You not getting enough sleep or something Arisato? At this rate you'll end up with detention you know."

Hisashi Igou. A grey haired boy that was apparently considered to be one of the more popular people of the class.

He was a second-year student, just like himself. He also happened to the person that sat next to him in most of his classes. He could see why Igou was one of the more well liked students of the class. The boy seemed to have a certain charismatic air around him. A natural leader.

"I suppose so."

Hisashi only chuckled in response.

"Still playing the role of the silent protagonist, eh Arisato?", he picked up his notebook and began to get up, "Well I better get in line before all the good foods gone, later Arisato."

Just as he did with the others, the boy watched Hisashi leave, only he wasn't alone. Two other classmates of his walked over to meet up with the boy. He recognized them as Rei Miyamoto and Takashi Komuro. Those were the two that Hisashi seemed to always be together with, the three were probably good friends.

As they began to make their way outside of the classroom, he could overhear a little bit of their conversation.

"Why do you bother talking with him Hisashi?"

"I don't know, he just seems kind of lonely you know? You don't like him Rei?"

The boy could see the girl glance back at his direction before quickly turning around when she noticed that he was looking at them.

"No, nothing like that! He's just kind of… weird, I guess."

He decided to stop eavesdropping on the trio. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop to begin with, but when he heard that the subject in question was himself. Well, the curiosity got the better of him. What the girl said didn't bother him. He wasn't the type of person to harbor petty grudges. Although the more correct way to phrase it was probably that nothing really bothered him.

The incident with his parents a decade ago seemed to dull almost any feelings he had. He was never a very expressive person to begin with either. Combine that with the trauma from the incident, he supposed he couldn't blame the girl for thinking of him as "weird".

He supposed he should follow the rest of his class to the cafeteria. He was getting somewhat hungry after all. And so with a great deal of effort suppressing a yawn, the boy plugged in his beloved headphones and headed down towards the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>Bullying.<p>

It was quite a common occurrence, it seemed to happen at every school that he transferred to. Although they never seemed to bully him. He supposed it lost its appeal when the victim barley responded. That and most people just seemed to leave him alone, thinking of him as too strange to associate with.

So, it didn't come as a surprise when he saw one of the students from his class getting bossed around by the third-years. If he remembered correctly, the glasses wearing victim went by the name Kohta Hirano.

If he hadn't already agreed to deliver these papers to one of the many club advisors throughout the school, then perhaps he might have stepped in. Not because he felt pity or anything of the sort, he rarely felt anything really, but more because it simply seemed to be morally right he supposed.

And so, his gaze lingered on the scene for a few more moments before he went on his way, he had agreed to deliver these after all.

"Hey, you wait!"

He stopped. Turning around, it seemed that one of the bullies were from his class. Imamura he believed his name was.

"The new guy, Arisato right?"

He simply nodded, unsure of where this conversation was going.

"Do me a favor and don't go snitching on us alright?"

It was a sensible request. They didn't want to get into any more trouble with the faculty. Imamura was frequently seen in detention and he supposed that the rest of them were the same.

"Hold up Imamura", another one of bullies, one of the third-years he didn't recognize looked his way, "Hey you, come over here."

He frowned. Lunch break was almost over and he still needed to deliver these papers. But he still obliged nonetheless, he had asked and he saw no reason to refuse him. He supposed if he picked up his pace he could still finish delivering the papers before the break ended.

He wondered what was going through the boy's head as the third-year got closer to him and squinted, almost as if he was appraising him. Then almost as if a light bulb popped over his head in those cartoons, the boy eyes went wide.

"Yeah I remember now, I saw you on a police report before!"

He could see Imamura and the rest of them look at their supposed leader with confusion.

"Yeah, you're the kid whose parents were killed in a robbery a few years back right? My dad's a cop so I've seen a couple of police reports."

He could see Imamura frown a little bit.

"Well fuck Tsunoda, way to kill my mood. Shouldn't be talking bout things like that so casually man."

Did Imamura pity him? It was pointless if he did. The incident didn't bother him anymore.

"Hey! What do you boys think you're doing over there!"

He could see the color drain from the boys faces as they heard the P.E. teacher's voice.

"Tsunoda, Imamura, what are you knuckleheads up to now?"

"Nothing Mr. Takayama! Just having a good time with my buds."

Unsurprisingly, Tsunoda was not a very good liar. His type never were. It seemed Mr. Takayama didn't buy it either.

"Your buds huh?", Takayama looked over to Kohta, who seemed to be having anything but a "good time", "Hirano, these guys messing with you?"

It seemed like the boy, Kohta was going to tell the teacher what happened but apparently the glare from Tsunoda quickly shut him up. Ah, he was afraid of what would happen afterwards if he did "snitch". Mr. Takayama frowned.

"Hey, Arisato. Is what Tsunoda said true?"

He thought about whether to lie or not. Tsunoda and the rest of the bullies, baring Imamura seemed to be glaring at him as well. Imamura only kept his frown. He didn't take Imamura as someone that cared this much.

Mr. Takayama was looking at him expectantly.

"No. It seemed like they were bullying Hirano-san."

"Why you fucking snitch!"

It seemed as if Tsunoda was about to start throwing some punches. Of course, Mr. Takayama quickly stepped in and dragged the would be bullies away, muttering all the while that "they didn't pay him enough to deal with kind of shit".

He sighed. That took up more time then he thought it would. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to deliver the rest of these papers today.

"Arisato-san was it? Thanks for standing up for me. Most people would just walk away…"

He looked over to the glasses wearing boy. He didn't know much about him besides his name. Although he had heard rumors that the boy was a gun otaku, he didn't bother to ask him about it. Instead, he merely nodded in response. It looked like the boy wanted to say something else but he ignored it, he still had these papers to deliver and he had wasted enough time as it was.

As he continued to walk down the hallway he saw another student leaning on one of the many door frames along the classroom building. She seemed to be appraising him as well. People seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Did he suddenly grow horns on his head or something? Ah, but then he was the new transfer student. People were bound to be curious about him.

"I didn't take you for the righteous type."

The tone in her voice almost seemed to make her statement lean towards a question. Mr. Takayama had simply asked him a question and he responded with the truth, that was all there was to it. He didn't answer for any righteous reasons or anything.

"Tsunoda and his goons are only going to go after you now, you know that right?"

He stopped. That would be troublesome and problematic. But then again, he supposed that Tsunoda seemed like the type that would harbor grudges. His own fault for not realizing that sooner he supposed.

"I see."

The pink haired girl sighed. Ah, he remembered now, she was Saya Takagi. She had scored some of the highest scores on the last exam. One of his fellow classmates as well. How odd that he could recognize the glasses wearing boy instantly as a classmate but not this girl with the pink hair.

"I can't tell if you're just trying too hard to be a good guy or just stupid."

If he had to choose, he would have to say neither. He didn't voice that out of course. Instead he merely ignored her and continued to walk down the hallway. He had heard her mutter, "stupid" as she walked back into the classroom. He ignored it, it didn't bother him and perhaps if he rushed he would still be able to deliver these papers!

Then the lunch bell rang, signaling that the lunch break was over. He sighed. It seemed that he would have to finish delivering these papers tomorrow. He didn't enjoy not following through on something when he gave his word.

* * *

><p>He hadn't expected to join the kendo club. He hadn't expected to join any club for that matter. But as he was delivering the papers to the numerous club advisors across the school, the kendo club advisor had stopped to talk with him. Mr. Okazaki seemed to be quite the outgoing individual. In fact, before he knew it, he had ended up getting roped into signing up for the kendo club.<p>

It didn't really bother him he supposed. Mr. Okazaki had wanted him to join the kendo club, so he merely obliged. As he was about to open the old fashioned wooden door to the kendo dojo, the door slid open by itself, revealing a very tall purple haired girl inside.

"Hello there, you must be the newcomer that Mr. Okazaki told me about."

He merely nodded in response.

It turned out the girl was the captain of the kendo team. A third year by the name of Saeko Busujima. He had thought that she looked familiar. He had seen her face on various newspapers many times, she had won multiple kendo tournaments in the past. And if he remembered correctly, her father was a very famous swordsman.

"I take it that Mr. Okazaki pressured you until joining the kendo club?"

He merely nodded in response. She seemed to sigh.

"I'm sorry, I've told him time and time again to stop pressuring people to join. It would be better if people joined of their own will."

It didn't bother him.

"You are, Arisato-san right? The new transfer student?"

He nodded once again.

"You are not a very talkative person are you, Arisato-san?", She smiled as she got up and reached for a wooden sword, handing him one, "But that is fine, in kendo, one may speak with their sword instead of their voice."

It almost seemed to surprise her when he arrived at the dojo the very next day. Apparently, most people that end up getting pressured into the club by Mr. Okazaki didn't bother showing up at all. He wasn't all too surprised to hear this.

In the end, it had turned out that he was surprisingly talented at the sport. The captain herself had praised him.

"_You have a real talent for kendo, Arisato-san. For once, I am actually happy that Mr. Okazaki did not listen to me." _

They had regularly competed with each other. There were not very many members in the kendo club after all. He had lost every time of course. But, according to her, he was improving at an astounding rate.

"Do you not enjoy kendo, Arisato-san?"

He was not expecting this question. He did not hate it. But he did not like it either. He supposed it was similar to most things in his life, a routine that he simply followed.

"If Mr. Okazaki did not tell you to join, would you have joined the kendo club on your own Arisato-san?"

He shook his head. Mr. Okazaki had asked and he had listened. He rarely if anything did something out of his own will, he just didn't have the motivation or the care for it.

"I see."

If she was disappointed in his answer, she did not show it.

* * *

><p>The first three weeks at Fujimi Academy went by exactly as he expected. His daily routine consisted of him going to school, then going to work or the kendo club, and finally, ended with him going home. He no longer stayed at orphanages anymore, and he supposed that he was glad for that. He considered himself a solidary type of person and enjoyed his alone time.<p>

-Beep- -Beep-

Turning off the alarm on his watch. The boy quickly finished eating his breakfast, consisting of plain white rice and a single egg on top, and grabbed his school bag. He considered himself a pretty good cook but he didn't bother making anything that would have taken too much effort. He didn't really have a preference when it came to food, if it was edible, he would eat it, that was all. He glanced at his watch as he put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. It was time for another day of school.

He didn't mind going to school. But he didn't exactly enjoy it either, then again, there weren't a lot of things he enjoyed doing anymore. He just simply felt really empty. Like there was no purpose to his life or life in general. He chuckled at the rather dark though as he put on his shoes. Was he beginning to turn into a nihilist?

The day went by just as any other. He had slept through the first three periods as usual. Of course the teacher wasn't able to catch him dozing off anymore. It was quite strange how the teacher had managed to spot him last time really. He was quite proud of his ability to blend in seamlessly and sleep through lessons. An ability that he had developed throughout his many years as a student.

Hisashi made some small talk with him as usual when the lunch bell rang. It had almost become a routine for the two now. Hisashi would ask him things and he would answer. The questions could range from anything, about himself to what was his opinion on the latest gossip going around the school. He remembered one time Hisashi had asked him whether or not he was gay. He had almost choked on his own saliva when he heard him. During his first two weeks at the school, one of the first-year girls had tried to ask him out. It was quite surprising really, because people would rarely talk to him other than Hisashi and a few others.

He had politely declined. Hisashi had said the question before was only a joke as he continued to laugh at his expense.

"_She was quite cute you know."_

He had agreed. Hisashi had tried to continue grilling him for answers that day, but he simply shook his head, not wanting to give the other boy any further ammunition to use for future jokes at his expense.

He wouldn't say that they were friends. Good acquaintances more than anything really. The small talk did provide him with some form of entertainment though, so he was grateful to Hisashi for that. He actually found himself looking forward to their odd talks.

Lunch break went by as usual. He had taken to his usual corner on the roof and began to munch on his many packets of melon bread. He had always been a heavy eater. As he took another bite, he leaned against the wall and began to look up at the clouds, perhaps he might take a nap, it was a nice day after all. It seemed like it was simply going to be another normal day.

That was until 5th period came along. Takashi wasn't seen in class, though it wasn't exactly a surprise. He had seen the boy frequently cut class in his time at Fujimi. Although what did take him with surprise as well as the entire class was when Takashi barged through the door in the middle of 5th period, seemingly out of breath. It seemed that he had been running for a while. He had raised an eyebrow when he saw Takashi grab Rei Miyamoto by the arm, telling her to go with him. Events would rarely warrant a facial expression from him, but this was one of them.

His eyebrow rose even higher when he saw Takashi slap Rei across the face. With some force he might add. Hisashi had got up now and it looked like things would only escalate from there. Ah, Hisashi was Rei's boyfriend, he remembered the boy telling him in one of their daily conversations. He thought Hisashi would slug Takashi across the face, and it looked like he was about too when Takashi whispered something into his ear.

Because he had sat near Hisashi and only a few seats away from Rei, he could hear what Takashi had said.

"There was a murder at the front gates just now, we got to get out of here."

His eyebrow probably couldn't rise any higher than it was right now. If the entire class wasn't focused on the trio that was standing in the middle of the room, they would probably be amazed that the apathetic boy was actually showing a facial expression.

The trio had soon left the classroom, prompting the teacher to yell angrily after them, but ultimately do nothing but close the door. Hushed voices had begun to spread around the classroom, most likely his peers gossiping among each other about what they thought was going on.

It seemed that not everyone had heard what Takashi had said, and those that had, simply dismissed it as the boy being an idiot. He believed Takashi though, the boy had no reason to lie in that situation after all. But nonetheless, he remained in his seat, the murder and the potential danger didn't bother him at all.

It didn't surprise him when the warning announcement over the loudspeaker was cut short, probably by the murderer no less. The classroom was dead silent for a moment. And cliché as it was, the thing that broke everyone out of their stupor was a piece of chalk falling onto the floor.

Then chaos ensured. The entire class erupted into panic, students piled out of the now all too narrow doors of the classroom. The teacher had completely lost control of his class and seemed to not know what to do, before deciding to run along with the mob. The boy merely continued to sit in his seat and observe. People would have probably found it amusing how the entire class struggled to fit out of a 3 foot wide doorframe while he casually sat in his seat observing the spectacle before him.

It was a natural response he guessed. They were afraid, and the instinct of self-preservation was kicking in. As to why the boy wasn't joining the mob? He simply didn't care. His instincts of self-preservation were simply non-existent, he didn't fear death. No, that was probably wrong, it had nothing to do with fear or being brave, he simply just didn't care. Perhaps it was a result from the trauma of seeing his parents killed in front him? He wasn't sure, nor did he really care for that matter.

"Are you seriously stupid or something!?"

He was broken out of his thoughts of a voice that strangely reminded him of a harpy. The entire class had already managed to escape and surprisingly enough, Takagi and Hirano were still here, staring at him nonetheless.

He merely raised an eyebrow in response.

"Did you not hear the announcement or something!?"

Ah, so that was it. It seemed that they were worried about his well-being. It seemed that Takagi was a much better person than he had initially thought.

"I heard it."

The look on her face was almost amusing to see.

"Then what are you waiting for stupid!? We need to go, now!"

The Hirano boy only meekly nodded in response. He decided to get up leaving his schoolbag behind. He supposed he could always go back to get it later. He didn't decide to go along with them because he was afraid of dying. But it seemed like she had wanted him to come along, so he did.

And so they ran. The chaos going around the school was a tough one to take in.

"People eating people… This isn't even funny anymore", Takagi's face was etched in worry as she continued to run.

"T-Takagi, why are we running away? Shouldn't we go to the teachers or something."

It was the first time Hirano had spoken so far. His tone of voice carried the same worry that was evident in Takagi's.

"Are you stupid or something Hirano? What do you think the teachers are going to do? If you haven't noticed, people are **eating** other people."

She really could sound like a harpy. They had stopped running for a while and were now hiding under a staircase.

"T-then do you have a cellphone Takagi? We should probably call the police."

Kohta should really think things through before asking these questions. It would only piss off Takagi even more after all.

"How stupid can you get?", Takagi continued to look around before breaking off in a run once the coast was clear, with us following close behind, "Don't you think everyone's already tried calling the police already, stupid?"

Hirano had gone quiet after that and the trio continued to run in silence. Takagi had led them into the arts and crafts room.

"Lock the door before they get in here stupid!"

Hirano quickly locked the door with a yelp. Takagi appeared to be looking around the room for something. After a couple minutes, she had put a nail gun and a somewhat large metal pipe onto the table.

"U-uh, what are you doing Takagi?"

… Hirano really needed to stop asking these redundant questions. Unless he was a masochist that enjoyed having his eardrums ruptured.

"What are you stupid? Haven't you ever seen those zombie movies? We have to defend ourselves somehow."

Takagi sighed as she looked around for more useful items. She just had to be stuck with these two idiots. If only she had went with Takashi when he had barged out of the classroom.

"This is a nail gun right Arisato-san?"

This was the first time that Hirano had spoken to him since the bullying incident. He simply nodded in agreement.

"Looks like its gas powered too."

"Obviously", Takagi said with a huff as she opened a drawer, "We wouldn't be able to bring it with us if it was wired. You're one of those basement dwelling gun-otaku aren't you? Use that thing."

He raised an eyebrow when he saw Hirano start muttering to himself. From what he could make out, something about the weight of the gun and attaching a sight to it? He turned his attention back towards the table, he guessed that the metal pipe was his? He supposed that Takagi had heard about him joining the kendo club.

Grabbing it, he gave it a few test swings. It didn't weigh as much as a bokken did, but he supposed he didn't have much of a choice in this situation.

"I never expected anyone to join the kendo club, much less you of all people."

He glanced over at Takagi, who was now staring at him, one hand resting on her hip. He hadn't expected to join either. As he was about to explain why, there was a loud bang on the door. Ah, they must have heard them, with all the yelling Takagi was doing at first. So it seemed that these… zombies, reacted to sound. Another loud bang. The door would only hold for a few more seconds at most.

"W-what are you guys doing!? We have to do something, they're going to get in here soon!"

The fear was quite evident in her voice. Was she that afraid of dying? He turned his attention over to Hirano, who was still muttering something about a "sight" while trying to put together a random assortments of parts. Another loud bang.

The door soon broke apart and chaos ensured.

"S-someone, do something!"

And so he did.

They did not come at him with any thoughts on their attacks, only a mindless charge. He swung at the nearest one, feeling the impact as the pipe hit the side of its head, most likely shattering a part of its skull. Compared to trying to guard against the strikes of Busujima-sempai, these things might as well have been moving in slow motion.

He caught the next one on the chin, hearing the rather disgusting sound of bone cracking as its neck turned in a way that human necks were never supposed to be able to do.

Another one had already gotten dangerously close to him. With a grunt, he switched his stance and swung, hitting it across the face. The metal pipe then promptly broke in half, not having been designed to be wielded as if it were a bokken.

He frowned as there were still three more of them rushing straight at him. But with no weapon, he wouldn't have much of a chance against this many. She had asked him to do something and he had tried. This was good enough he supposed. There probably weren't much worse ways to die than being eating alive.

He dropped the remains of the pipe in his hands and chuckled. He supposed at least now he had an interesting story to tell his parents if he met them in the afterlife.

The rather morbid thought quickly came to an end as something whizzed by his head. He heard a few more clicks and a few bullets fly past him before hitting each zombie squarely in the head. They soon all dropped dead once again to the floor.

"Got them!"

He blinked once, before promptly turning around. Ah, so that's what he meant by "sight". Hirano was holding the nail gun, only now it had a makeshift sight marker on it.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the expression on Hirano's face. How odd, he never thought that the glasses wearing boy was capable of making an expression like that.

"U-uh, is there something on my face Arisato-san?"

He blinked.

And just like that, it had disappeared as Hirano looked at him, a confused look in his eyes.

He shook his head in reply.

"A-are you not just stupid, but also suicidal!? Why did you just stand there!?"

Ah, the harpy was back. Along with quite the glare as well.

"My weapon broke."

He simply stated a fact. Takagi however appeared to not like his answer.

"So, what? You were just going to let them eat you? Why didn't you run away or fight back?"

He thought about telling her that he wouldn't have stood a chance against three undead with only a three inch metal pipe. He also thought about telling her that there would have been nowhere to run as the zombies were coming in from the only exit, coupled by the fact that they were on the third floor as well. As a self-proclaimed genius, she really should have been able to think that through. Of course, he didn't voice any of these thoughts, least he awaken the harpy again.

Instead he simply nodded.

Hirano and Takagi didn't know what to say.

"So what, you would rather just die and give up?"

He nodded once again. She clenched her fists in response. That usually wasn't a good sign.

"Then why did you even fight them off in the first place?"

"You asked."

It was a simple answer. But then again, it was a simple question in the first place. She had asked for help, he had provided it.

They stood there for a little while in silence. The screams that could be regularly heard across the school earlier were occurring much less now. It would seem that a good deal of the school population had succumbed to the undead.

Takagi had a unsure look on her face. As if she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to speak whatever it was on her mind. Hirano meanwhile only remained quiet as he regarded the two with an unreadable expression.

"If… If I hadn't called out to you, would you have just remained in that classroom?"

That was… an unexpected question. He thought about it. He might have just stayed there. Or he might have eventually ventured out, curiosity getting the better of him. But, that wasn't the real question on her mind. Not what she **really** wanted to ask.

So, he merely nodded.

"Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Ah, there it was. The real question that she had wanted to ask. Compared to the question before it, this one was a simple one.

"I don't really care", he looked at her for a moment, a curious look on his face before deciding to speak again, "Is dying that scary to you?"

* * *

><p><strong>Bokken<strong>- A wooden sword that is typically used in Kendo.

Author's Notes: I wanted to try a new style of writing and this is what happened. I hope it turned out well. It's been a while since I've played Persona 3, so if anything is off, please forgive me ^_^". I'm really glad I was able to end the chapter on a quote from the new P3 movie, ah ha. Anyway, reviews would be great as I would love to hear people's thoughts on the story.

- Special FX


	2. Chapter 2

The Second Card-

The Jack of Diamonds

* * *

><p>Saya Takagi was not a happy girl.<p>

People had started eating other people. Screams regularly tore through the hallways. And worse of all the entire school had turned into a warzone in only a matter of hours. It was like something straight out of one of those B-rated zombie flicks. And yet, here they were, as real as real can be. She turned her head back, looking at the two boys behind her.

She sighed. Why hadn't she gone along with Takashi when he had barged into class earlier? Now she was stuck with these two idiots, a fat gun otaku and a... She didn't even know what to think of the other lethargic looking boy. Lethargic was probably an understatement. Well… At least they weren't completely useless, even if they were stupid.

She frowned. Speaking of Takashi, she hoped that the idiot wasn't dead.

"You looked like a real pro back there Arisato-san. Have you done kendo before you joined the club?"

He merely shook his head in response. It seemed that the other boy had finally felt familiar enough with him to start a conversation. He couldn't blame Hirano; he wasn't exactly the "life of the party", according to Hisashi anyway. He found himself filled with an unfamiliar feeling as he thought about the grey haired boy. Was it worry? He supposed whether or not Hisashi survived this ordeal, if had had to choose, he would have preferred if he did. It seemed that he enjoyed talking with the boy more than he had originally thought. Perhaps… If this never happened, they would have become friends in the future?

He raised an eyebrow as he saw Takagi crouch down next to the water fountain, soaking a rag in water, probably one that she had taken from the arts and crafts room. Once it was wet enough, she wrapped it up into a ball, and promptly flung it at one of the walking dead in front of them. It landed squarely in the back of its head. Evidently, the dead didn't react to touch either.

"Uh, what are you doing Takagi?"

Hirano… He quickly glanced over to Takagi. If she went into harpy mode out here, they would most likely all die. Every single undead in the hallway would probably come running straight towards them.

He saw her left eye flinch in an almost comedic way as she continued to soak another rag in water.

"What does it look like stupid? I'm trying to learn more about them."

Surprisingly, she actually kept her voice down this time. As she continued to soak another rag, he turned his attention elsewhere, looking out the window, he could see two students on the run. He didn't recognize any of them, but they looked like first-years. They didn't last very long, as they were quickly caught by the mob outside, resulting in the two getting eaten alive. It looked quite painful. They probably would have been able to get away if they didn't try to run. Running would produce noise, one of the few if not the only things they were attracted to. Within mere minutes, the two now dead students began to rise once more. How curious, it seemed that once a person was killed, they would turn in a matter of minutes.

He frowned as he took in the scene in the courtyard. It seemed that you turned when you were bitten, but would it occur after one bite? Or did the person have to die first? Would one bite lead to instant death?

He was shaken from his thoughts when he heard Takagi throw another wet rag, only this time at a row of lockers instead of another undead. And lo and behold, the zombie mindlessly walked over towards the lockers direction. In fact, it had actually walked straight into the locker, making a loud noise as it ran into it. So it would appear that the undead were blind as well.

"You understand now? They only respond to sound. They probably can't see either, or else they wouldn't be mindlessly running into things."

Hirano only nodded in response.

"You're really smart Takagi."

"Of course, I am a genius after all. Let's get going, if we keep quiet, we should be able to avoid most of them."

The glasses wearing boy frowned.

"Wait, we're going outside?"

Takagi sighed.

"Well, duh. What, you want to stay in here?"

Hirano began to rub the side of his cheek as he sheepishly smiled.

"No, it's just that… I kind of hate walking."

… Perhaps if he plugged in his ears with his fingers, it would protect his eardrums from Takagi's incoming ultra-sonic attack.

"Maybe that's why you're so fat stupid!"

Ah… He should have just simply plugged in his headphones instead. He slowly got to his feet as he looked around. Takagi's yelling had probably just alerted every single zombie in the entire hallway.

"L-look at what you made me do stupid!"

Hirano still had that sheepish look on his face

"B-but you were the one that was yelling!"

Was Takagi really that scared of dying? Because her actions seemed to contradict her feelings.

"W-what did you say!? You're going to blame ME? H-how dare you, you fat idiot!"

Then again, he supposed it was just human nature to cling to normality. Or perhaps that was just simply her personality. He wondered when Takagi would stop yelling and notice that they were starting to get surrounded by a horde of the undead. Hirano had already begun shooting, but it looked like he would run out of ammo well before being able to kill most of them.

Glancing around, there didn't seem to be anything that he could substitute for a bokken either. He would be quite defenseless if he were to get caught.

-Click-

"A-aw crap! I'm out of ammo!"

"Just reload it stupid!", Takagi yelled as she frantically looked around for an escape route, "T-there's nowhere else for us to go, we're surrounded!"

She was right. The dead had them surrounded from both sides. In fact, some of them had started to leak out of the classrooms, most likely students that had thought it would have been a good idea to hide in them. Evidently, it wasn't. Takagi and Hirano had started rummaging through the schoolbag that they had stuffed full of an assortment of random materials from the arts and crafts room that the pink haired girl had claimed would be "useful". Looking for more ammunition for the nail gun most likely.

Takagi paused and glanced over towards his direction.

"Do I really have to tell you do everything!?"

He frowned. What did she want from him? There was nothing he could do in this situation, he had no weapon. Their only way of escape was to jump from the third floor, which would only delay the inevitable. If they actually survived the fall, they would only end up with broken limbs, easy prey for the undead outside. Not to mention the sound of the fall, would probably alert every single zombie in the whole school. She was the one that had started yelling, alerting all of them in the first place anyway.

"F-found them!", Hirano quickly grabbed some nails out of the bag and clumsily tried to load them into the gun.

"H-hurry up stupid they're getting clos-!"

It seemed that one of them had gotten close enough within arm's reach to Takagi as she was rummaging through the schoolbag. She screamed when she saw it of course, all while hurling insults their way, such as, "DO SOMETHING YOU IDIOTS!".

He glanced over at Hirano, it didn't look like he would be able to load the gun in time. But what could he do? He supposed he could try putting it in a headlock, but that probably would only get him bitten and turn him into a zombie as well.

He snorted. That would probably just piss off the pink haired girl even more. If he were to become a zombie, listening to her yelling would probably kill him right there on the spot.

If only he could stop that thing from using it's bite. Like how they would muzzle dogs. Ah, he raised an eyebrow at the thought. It was worth a try.

He quickly took off his jacket and flung it over the monster's face, putting it into a headlock. This way, it wouldn't be able to bite at least. It seemed that they were quite strong though, as it simply seemed to shrug him off, continuing its advance on Takagi while dragging his rather scrawny self along with it.

It had actually managed to grab onto Takagi with one of its hands, even while remaining trapped in a headlock, a testament to its strength. She only screeched louder in response. The strength of these things was unbelievable. Completely inhuman, then again, they were zombies.

He squeezed, trying to snap its neck, but it simply ignored him. It tried to open its mouth, attempting to crane its neck in the girl's direction. The boy only pulled back tighter in response. His makeshift muzzle wouldn't last much longer, as it was beginning to bite through the cloth. His breathing labored as he struggled to hold the monster back. He was unused to pushing his body to this extent.

And then he heard the all too familiar sound of a trigger getting squeezed. He breathed a sigh of relief as he could finally let go and quickly dropped to the floor, quite winded.

"Arisato-san!"

The worry in the other boy's voice did not go unnoticed. He merely lifted up his hand in response, indicating that he was fine. They had more pressing matters at hand after all. The glasses wearing boy understood and quickly began shooting. Even though every shot hit its mark, there were just too many of them. Glancing over at the pink haired girl, he could see that tears had begun to drop from her face. It seemed that she was in a state of shock. It wasn't a surprise, mere moments ago, she was only a torn jacket away from getting eaten alive.

His ears twitched. He could hear footsteps, human footsteps. Turning his head back, he could see some familiar faces rushing towards their direction. It would seem that they still might survive this ordeal after all.

* * *

><p>The school's faculty office seemed to be a lot better off than most of the other rooms. There were no undead for one thing. Nor were there any bloodstains anywhere, the room simply looked like how it would have looked on any given normal day.<p>

The only difference was that instead of teachers, it was now occupied by a rag tag group of students. He recognized most of the people in the room. Ironically, most of them were his classmates, barring his kendo captain and the school nurse.

He simply observed as everyone introduced themselves, frowning when he noticed that Hisashi wasn't with Takashi or Rei. Was he perhaps…

"Arisato-san? Aren't you going to introduce yourself?", the smooth voice of his kendo captain seemed to almost flow through the air.

He blinked, realizing that everyone in the room was looking at him expectantly.

"Minato Arisato. It is nice to meet everyone."

It was a very well-rehearsed line. One that he had used many, many times throughout his regular transfers.

* * *

><p>"It is nice to see that you are alive and well Arisato-san", his kendo captain gave him a sad smile as she sat on the stool across from him, "I do not think that the rest of the club was as lucky as we were."<p>

He did not know how to respond to that. So instead, he merely sat in silence, taking occasional glances around the room. Takagi had gone to the restroom, grumbling about her contacts the whole time while the rest of the group sat on the various chairs and stools around the room. He looked over towards Takashi and Rei's direction the most, curious as to where Hisashi was.

"It must have been tough without your bokken."

His eyes drifted back towards his captain. He supposed that it was, a flimsy metal pipe did not make a good substitute for a bokken at all.

"It is amazing how calm you can be about this Arisato-san", she paused for a moment, as if unsure of what to say next, "This situation can be frightening, in more ways than one."

If his sempai was afraid, she did not show it. All he saw was her ever clam exterior, it seemed as if she had not even broken a sweat, while they were all already exhausted. She even protected their school nurse the entire time. He found it hard to believe that his sempai was frightened. It did not seem to align with her nature.

"You are afraid?"

He did not miss the surprised look on her face.

"I am. But not of the dead."

He frowned. What had she meant? He never had a chance to ask as Takashi coughed, getting the attention of everyone in the room.

"If everyone is ready now, I think that we should get going."

"Oh, I know!"

Their rather energetic school nurse, Ms. Marikawa he believed it was, raised her hand in the air, as if she were an elementary school student waiting for the teacher to call on her.

"We could take my car!"

"Are you sure we would all fit in your car Marikawa-sensei?"

It seemed that Takagi was finally out of the restroom, wearing a new pair of glasses no less. How curious, he had never known that the girl wore lenses.

"Ah…", Marikawa almost seemed to deflate, as she realized that it was impossible for everyone to fit into her car, "We probably wouldn't."

"We could take the school buses", Hirano pointed at a key rack hanging from the wall, "I think the keys are over there."

Takashi nodded, "That's a good idea."

"But", the nurse rested a finger on her cheek, "Where are we going?"

Where indeed? The news report that they had seen earlier had depicted the entire situation quite clearly. The city was quite frankly, in shambles. This was not simply the dead attacking their school, the dead rising in their city. No, this was something on a far larger scale than that; it was something that was affecting the entire world.

Over a 1000 dead in the city alone, and that was only within a few hours. Apparently, China was already up in flames, the result of nuclear warheads being let loose. America wasn't faring any better, the president and his cabinet already having evacuated from the White House.

What exactly did Takashi have in mind?

"I think that… it would be best if we all tried to find our families first", Takashi looked around the group, "Is that fine with everyone?"

Everyone had nodded in agreement, barring himself of course.

'You don't agree with that Arisato-san?"

He had never directly spoken with Takashi prior to this. What little he knew of the other boy was simply from Hisashi.

"Ah, Komuro-kun", Marikawa hesitantly interjected, as if unsure of what to say, "Arisato-kun is… a bit of a special case."

Takashi simply raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Ah, that is…", she looked over towards his direction an unsure look on her face, "Ah… because…"

"I do not have a family. I am an orphan."

The look of surprise on everyone's faces did not go unnoticed. He had not told anyone, not even Hisashi, so it did not surprise him. The only reason that their school nurse had known was because as a member of the faculty, she had access to his file.

"Ah, sorry Arisato-san", Takashi rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, "I didn't know."

He had no reason to apologize, it did not bother him anymore after all.

"It's fine."

The room remained in an awkward silence for a while.

"I think… that you should still come with us Arisato-san" Takashi was the first to break the silence, "There's no reason to remain here after all."

The bitter tone that the boy had used to say that last part did not go unnoticed. He supposed that the boy was right, it was pointless to remain in school when there were no more classes left to take. So he only nodded in response.

"Alright then", a renewed vigor seemed to appear in Takashi's voice, "Let's take the bus and get out of here. We're all going to get out of here alive!"

Everyone solemnly nodded in agreement as they began to slowly remove the barricades on the door, gathering themselves in order to face what lied in the halls.

* * *

><p>He was surprised when he heard a scream tear through the air. As depressing a thought as it was, he had assumed that the rest of the school had already succumbed to the dead.<p>

Naturally, they had come to the rescue. Of course, he had no weapon, so he only watched from the sidelines, along with Takagi and Marikawa. His captain was as skillful as ever, easily dispatching them, one after another. What had surprised him was how skilled Rei was with that broomstick. He had forgotten that she was a member of the Sojutsu club.

There were only a few of the undead, so they had easily been taken care of. The victims in question were students from other classes, none of which he recognized. Takashi had asked if they wanted to escape with them. Naturally, they agreed.

The thing is, individually, the walking dead could be easily dealt with. While they were unnaturally strong, they were slow, as well as blind. They only became a problem when they were gathered in large amounts.

And there lied the problem at hand. They had easily dispatched the few stray walkers here and there. But when they reached the main entrance, it was safe to say that most of the students that had tried to escape earlier now roamed those same halls as a member of the undead. Needless to say, a lot of students had tried to escape.

"They can't see us", Takagi said confidently, "They only react to sound, so if we keep quiet, we can simply walk past them."

Takashi frowned as he stared at the rather large group of zombies loitering around the main entrance.

"You want to test that theory?"

"It's not just a theory", the nervous tone in the pink haired girl's voice did not go unnoticed, "I've tested it already."

"We don't have much of a choice anyway", Saeko said in a quiet voice, "All of the exits will be similar to this. Someone will have to go."

Unsurprisingly, no one volunteered.

Takashi sighed and raised his left hand into the air.

"I'll go then."

"Wha?!", the worry on Rei's face was evident, "You can't Takashi!"

She grabbed onto his sleeve, worried eyes fixated on his face.

"It's fine Rei", Takashi nervously smiled, "Takagi said she already tested it out."

"No, I'll go", this time his captain was the one to speak, "I believe I will be able to fare better if Takagi's theory is proven to be false."

He did not understand as he watched them argue amongst themselves. Why did they make such a simple task seem so difficult?

"Arisato-kun, what are you", Marikawa's eyes went wide, "W-wait Arisato-kun!"

Everyone stopped talking when they realized that the boy had already left the staircase. Their jaws dropping in shock.

He knew they reacted to sound, so he kept his footsteps quiet. When they got too close, he stilled his breathing. He stopped walking and looked back, seeing everyone's nervous eyes fixated on him. He did not miss the looks of fear that appeared when they realized they would have to do the same thing to escape.

He wanted to sigh, but that would probably cause enough noise alert them of his presence. He was probably going to regret doing this later. No, he was definitely going to regret this.

He slowly took out his beloved mp3 player and with great care, he unhooked the headphones around his neck.

….

With a heavy heart, he dialed his favorite song to the max and tossed his beloved music player towards the side of the room. It quickly gathered the attention of every single zombie in the entrance, bringing them all to one side of the room as the familiar tune of Burn My Dread blasted through those lovely headphones of his. A pity he would never see them again.

The group, seeing this chance, quickly began to quietly exit the school building.

He simply stood there for a while, staring at a corner of the room. He wondered if it would be possible for him to rescue his music player. Perhaps if he distracted them long enough?

"Hurry up Arisato", Takagi quietly hissed, "This isn't the time to space out right now stupid!"

He frowned. He supposed this was goodbye. The end of the road. He gave his beloved mp3 one last look before following after Takagi.

They had made it to the bus without too much trouble. After everyone had seen that he confirmed Takagi's theory, it was easy for the group to sneak past the dead.

They were all seated, simply waiting for their school nurse to start the engine.

"U-uh, this is different compared to my car…", Marikawa frowned as she looked at the controls from the driver's seat, "Uh, that's the clutch I think… and that's the brake? Ugh… Where's the ignition at?"

He raised an eyebrow. Could she really drive? Getting up from his seat he walked over towards the driver's seat and took the key from her lap, putting it into the ignition socket. Giving it a small twist, he heard the engine roar to life.

"Ah, thank you Arisato-kun!"

He only nodded in response as he began to walk back to his seat.

"H-hey, I think that just attracted all of them!", Rei stood up from her seat and pointed out the window, "We need to go, now!"

"Wait!", Takashi frowned as he looked back towards the main entrance, "There are more people coming!"

He walked over back towards his seat and looked out the window. A group of students and a teacher, Mr. Shido, he believed it was. As they got closer to the bus, he could see a few familiar faces. Tsunoda and Imamura were the ones he recognized right away, their rather distinctive dyed hair being easy giveaways. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Kawamoto, the first-year girl that had asked him out a few weeks prior.

"We need to go now!", Rei said in an almost desperate tone, "We don't have to help them, just leave them!"

Takashi frowned as he held open the door of the bus.

"What the hell are you talking about Rei!? Of course we have to help them."

How odd, he did not take Rei for a cold hearted person. Usually he was quite accurate when he came to reading people, so it was quite surprising to see that he was wrong.

"You'll regret helping him Takashi…"

He did not miss the venom in Rei's voice as she stalked back towards her seat. Did she perhaps hate someone from their group? Turning his attention back outside, he wondered who it could be that she had a vendetta against. Could it be Tsunoda? He believed most people did not like the delinquent. He frowned as he saw Mr. Shido kick a student in the face, leaving him for dead as he escaped. Perhaps it was Mr. Shido? His actions did not exactly paint him in a very good light.

Once the last person had gotten on board, Takashi slammed the door shut.

"Okay, hit it!"

He felt his stomach lurch, as Ms. Marikawa gave a new meaning to "putting the pedal to the metal".

"Oh my", his kendo captain looked at him nervously from the seat next to his, "This may be a bumpy ride."

That was probably an understatement. He sighed. He really wished he had his mp3 player right now.

* * *

><p>"Why the fuck are we going into the city!?", using the seats for leverage, Tsunoda made his way to the front of the bus, "If you all haven't noticed from the smoke, the city is up in mother fucking flames!"<p>

He felt his stomach lurch again as Ms. Marikawa harshly hit the brakes.

"Okay that is enough!", stopping the bus, the blonde haired nurse got out of the driver's seat, "I can't focus on driving if you're just going to keep complaining, so be quiet!"

Tsunoda seemed to be momentarily taken aback. He frowned before muttering something incoherent and walked back towards his seat.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

He raised an eyebrow at Tsunoda, who was now standing directly in front of his seat.

"Hey, knock it off Tsunoda."

Takashi's voice only caused the blonde haired boy to scowl even harder.

"Fuck off Komuro, you ain't the boss of me. This is between me and him."

"Children! Please, cease this infighting at once!", Mr. Shido walked over towards Tsunoda and put his hands on the boy's shoulders, "Come now Tsunoda, there is no reason to fight is there?"

The blonde haired boy only scowled even harder before sulking back towards his seat, muttering curses along the way.

Mr. Shido only shook his head.

"This is why we need a leader!", he raised his hands into the air, "Without a leader, there will only continue to be conflict! We need someone with experience! Someone with poise!"

Takagi sighed.

"Let me guess, someone like yourself?"

If he noticed the sarcasm, Mr. Shido didn't show it.

"Why yes!", he grinned as he looked around the bus, "I am a teacher, therefore I have experience. It is only natural for me to be the leader. Why just mere moments ago, I saved the very same students that are riding in this bus right now!"

He spun around, so that his face was now visible to everyone on the bus.

"So what do you say guys? How about it?"

Shido's speech was initially met with silence. Then one student stood up and began clapping. And then another, and another. Soon enough, more than half the bus had thrown in their support for the teacher.

"Well now, I guess that does it!", he didn't think it was possible, but the man's grin only grew wider, "The majority has elected me to be the leader."

He raised an eyebrow when he saw Rei kick open the door to the bus, leaping off.

"Rei!"

Takashi jumped out after her.

"No way! I am not staying here with that bastard!"

Ah, so it was Mr. Shido that Rei did not like.

"Get back in the bus Rei", Takashi grabbed her wrist, "At least until we get back into the city okay?"

Mr. Shido only shook his head.

"Well, there's nothing I can do if you don't want to act in accordance with all of us."

"H-hey, Marikawa-sensei, we need to go!", Takagi said in an alarmed voice, "There's a bus coming straight at us!"

He frowned as he looked over towards Rei and Takashi. It seemed that they were still arguing with each other and did not notice the bus.

Jumping out of the bus as well, he grabbed Takashi and Rei with each hand and dragged them away to safety.

"W-wha?", Rei asked in a surprised voice, "A-arisato-san?!"

Just in the nick of time as well as the other bus crashed straight into a parked car, causing it to flip and land directly in flaming heap directly at where they were standing mere seconds ago.

He frowned as he looked at the giant flaming wall that was now separating them from the rest of the group. Raising an eyebrow when he saw some of the dead break out of the flaming deathtrap. They did not last too long however, as the fiery embers soon melted away at their flesh.

"O-oh shit.", Takashi said as he stared at what could be compared to as a scene straight out of hell, "T-thanks for the save Arisato, I owe you one."

He only nodded in response. Truth be told, he had no idea why he had saved them. Was it simply because of his moral conscience again? Or was it because of their relation with Hisashi?

"Arisato-san! Komuro-san!", his Sempai's worried voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Are you guys all alright?"

"A-at the police station!", Takashi shouted, hoping that his voiced reached, "Meet us at the police station!"

"What time?"

Takashi took a quick glance at his watch.

"Tonight at 7!", he coughed, the smoke from the fire was beginning to get thick, "If not tonight, then tomorrow at the same time!"

"T-Takashi, we need to go now!", Rei shouted in a worried tone, "Before the fire starts to spread anymore!"

Takashi nodded before breaking off in a run.

"Right, come on Arisato!"

He decided to follow them.

After a good deal of running, they had stopped by the riverside to rest. He blinked as he heard the sound of an explosion. It was good that they had decided to run, any longer and they may have gotten caught up in it.

Rei's grew a bit paler at the sound.

"Oh my god…", she stared at the site of the explosion for a little while longer, "Arisato-san, thank you for saving us."

He only nodded in response, before sneezing. It was getting late so the temperature had started to creep downwards. He wished he still had his jacket.

Takashi raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to your jacket man?"

He sighed.

"It is a long story."

Takashi only nodded in response, frowning.

"Yeah, it's been a one hell of a day…"

He looked over at Takashi. And then at Rei. He supposed that this was a good a time as any.

"Where is Igou-san?"

Takashi scowled as Rei choked back a sob. No one said anything for a while as Rei had begun to cry.

Takashi only looked away.

"He's dead."

He did not miss the bitterness in Takashi's voice. He did not know what to think about the painful feeling that had begun to well up in his chest. Was he… sad?

"How… did he die?"

Another choked sob was his answer as Rei struggled to contain herself.

He suddenly felt like a real ass for bringing it up.

* * *

><p><strong>Sojutsu- A Japanese martial art that involves the use of a spear. <strong>

Author's Notes: Rest in peace MP3 player. We will never forget you…


End file.
